Battleship Averof

The armoured cruiser “Georgios Averof” is one of the most historic warships of modern Greece. The ship was purchased in 1909 by the Greek Government for approximately 24 million gold drachmas, with one third of the sum coming from the inheritance of the businessman and national benefactor Georgios Averof (1815-1899). The launch took place in 1910, and in 1911 the ship entered the service of the Greek Navy as the most powerful and best equipped ship in the Southeastern Mediterranean. During the Balkan Wars, Averof acted as a flagship of the Greek fleet and, under Rear Admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis, took part in operations in the Northeastern Aegean and secured the victory in the naval battles of Elli (1912) and Lemnos (1913). Its extremely high speed and the maximum range of its firearms allowed it to break away from the rest of the fleet, to act independently and force the Ottoman ships to flee. The epic chase that followed forced the Ottoman fleet to take to flight and become trapped in the straits of the Dardanelles, earning Averof the nickname “Şeytan Papor”, meaning the “Devil’s Ship”. The ship continued its heroic action in all subsequent national challenges and, from 1984 to the present day, it operates as a floating Maritime Museum.Battleship Averof